Mays Law Office defends criminal cases across Dane County, but Middleton is home — our office is at 6405 Century Ave STE 103, in the same city where the Middleton Police Department made the arrest. And an arrest here leaves the city fast: the Dane County District Attorney’s Office reviews the police reports and decides what to charge, booking happens at the Public Safety Building in downtown Madison, and an initial appearance gets scheduled whether or not you have a lawyer yet. The stretch before that first hearing — while investigators still want a statement and the charges haven’t hardened — is when a defense does its most valuable work. Call 608-305-4518 for a free consultation before you give anyone else your account of what happened.

Criminal Defense Attorneys in Middleton, WI

Attorney Stephen E. Mays has practiced law in Wisconsin since 1995 and was named a 2025 Wisconsin Super Lawyer in DUI/DWI defense. He belongs to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Dane County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the State Bar of Wisconsin. For someone facing charges in Middleton, the local piece is not a slogan: your case will be charged by the Dane County DA’s office and heard by Dane County judges, and your lawyer’s office is a few minutes from your front door.

The job is the same in every courtroom — make the State carry its burden on every element of every count: was the stop lawful, was the questioning constitutional, does the evidence prove what the complaint alleges. We start pressing those questions at the first phone call.

When to Call Our Middleton, WI Criminal Defense Lawyers

Some situations should trigger a call the same day:

• Someone you love is in custody. Dane County holds in-custody initial appearances on weekday afternoons before a court commissioner at the Public Safety Building — and bail is set at that hearing. Counsel should be in place before it happens.
• An officer wants a “quick conversation.” Miranda warnings are required only during custodial interrogation. If a reasonable person in your shoes wouldn’t consider the situation the equivalent of formal arrest, no warning is owed — and what you say can still be used against you, though other challenges, like voluntariness, may remain.
• Police responded to a domestic incident at your home. Under Wisconsin’s mandatory-arrest law, Wis. Stat. § 968.075, officers who find reasonable grounds in defined circumstances generally must make an arrest — even over the other person’s objection. A 72-hour no-contact provision then takes effect automatically, lifts early only if the alleged victim signs a written waiver, and violating it while it’s in force is a separate crime.
• The charge is a felony. You’re entitled to a preliminary hearing where the State must show probable cause — a stage the defense can use for early discovery.
• You’re already out on bond. Bail jumping under Wis. Stat. § 946.49 punishes the intentional violation of a bond condition — a Class A misdemeanor on a misdemeanor case, a Class H felony carrying up to 6 years on a felony case — and it stacks on top of the original charge even if you’re later acquitted of that charge.
• You’re under 25 and worried about your record. Wisconsin expungement is narrow — it turns on your age, the offense, and your history — and eligibility must be granted at the sentencing hearing itself. Miss that moment and the chance is gone permanently.

Wisconsin Misdemeanor and Felony Penalties

Wisconsin grades every crime into one of three misdemeanor classes or nine felony classes, and that letter sets your maximum exposure. Under Wis. Stat. § 939.51, a Class A misdemeanor carries up to 9 months in county jail and a $10,000 fine, a Class B up to 90 days and $1,000, and a Class C up to 30 days and $500.

Felonies, under Wis. Stat. § 939.50, are punished with state prison. The ladder starts at Class I — up to 3 years and 6 months and a $10,000 fine — and climbs through Class H (6 years), Class G (10 years), Class F (12 years and 6 months), Class E (15 years), Class D (25 years), Class C (40 years), and Class B (60 years) to Class A, which carries life imprisonment.

Truth-in-sentencing shapes every felony term: the sentence is bifurcated into initial confinement followed by mandatory extended supervision in the community, with no traditional parole for offenses committed after 1999. If supervision is revoked for a rule violation, you can be reconfined for up to the time remaining on the bifurcated sentence — and time already spent in the community generally does not reduce that exposure.

Criminal Charges We Defend

Our Wisconsin criminal defense practice is built around the charges people in Middleton and the rest of Dane County actually face.

Disorderly conduct, Wis. Stat. § 947.01, is the catch-all Class B misdemeanor — but the State must prove both the conduct and circumstances tending to provoke a disturbance, so context and First Amendment defenses matter. Battery, Wis. Stat. § 940.60, scales with the harm alleged: simple battery is a Class A misdemeanor, substantial battery a Class I felony, and aggravated battery a Class H or Class E felony depending on intent. When battery or disorderly conduct arises between spouses or former spouses, adults who live together or formerly lived together, or adults with a child in common, the domestic-abuse framework attaches — mandatory arrest when the statutory conditions are met, followed by the automatic 72-hour no-contact period that only the alleged victim’s written waiver can lift early.

Drug charges under Wis. Stat. § 961.41 escalate quickly: first-offense marijuana possession is an unclassified misdemeanor carrying up to 6 months and a $1,000 fine, but a second possession offense of any drug is a Class I felony, and first-offense possession of a Schedule I or II narcotic drug — or methamphetamine — is a Class I felony from the start. Possession-with-intent charges are all felonies graded by weight, and prosecutors often build the “intent” element from circumstantial pieces like baggies, a scale, or cash.

Theft under Wis. Stat. § 943.20 is a Class A misdemeanor when the value is $2,500 or less, climbing by value to a Class G felony above $10,000 and a Class F felony above $100,000; theft of a firearm is a Class H felony regardless of value. And bail jumping under Wis. Stat. § 946.49 — among the most frequently charged crimes in Wisconsin — is defensible more often than people assume, because the State must still prove the violation was intentional.

Where a Middleton Criminal Case Actually Goes

Middleton has its own municipal court on Donna Drive, and that is exactly where a criminal case does not go. The Middleton Municipal Court, at 7341 Donna Dr., handles only non-criminal municipal matters — city ordinance violations and civil forfeitures. The Middleton Police Department investigates and arrests, but every misdemeanor and felony arising in the city is prosecuted by the Dane County District Attorney’s Office and heard in the Dane County Circuit Court at 215 S. Hamilton St. in downtown Madison — the same courthouse that hears criminal cases arising in Madison and everywhere else in the county.

After arrest and booking, the DA’s office reviews the reports and decides whether to file a criminal complaint — prosecutors can decline or amend charges on review. At the initial appearance the court states the charges, advises you of your right to counsel, and sets bail: out-of-custody misdemeanor defendants generally report to Courtroom 1A at the courthouse, while in-custody defendants go before a court commissioner at the adjacent Public Safety Building. Wisconsin has no commercial bail bondsmen — release is by signature bond or cash bond posted directly with the court — and since the 2023 constitutional amendments, judges in violent-crime cases may weigh prior violent convictions and the need to protect the community from serious harm when setting bail.

A felony case then generally moves to a preliminary hearing — unless the defense waives it — where the State must establish probable cause before an Information is filed and the case proceeds to arraignment; misdemeanor arraignments typically happen at the initial appearance itself. Discovery, pre-trial motions — suppression above all — and plea negotiations follow; if nothing resolves, the case goes to trial, where every element must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Two diversion routes are worth knowing early: the Community Restorative Court, a pre-charge program for 17-to-25-year-olds facing certain low-level misdemeanors that can end with no charges ever filed, and the Deferred Prosecution Program, a 6-to-36-month agreement that — for defendants the DA’s office accepts — can end with charges reduced or dismissed. Whether to pursue diversion or fight the charge is a judgment call we make with you, based on the evidence.

How We Defend Criminal Charges

Every file gets worked on at least three fronts. The first is the search and the seizure: warrantless searches are presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and Wisconsin’s appellate courts keep redrawing the lines on warrantless home entries, blood draws, and cell phone extractions. Where police overstepped, a motion to suppress can pull the resulting evidence out of the case.

The second is the questioning. Because Miranda protects you only during custodial interrogation, the fight is frequently over whether you were actually “in custody” when you talked. A statement taken in violation of your rights can be suppressed — and many prosecutions don’t survive losing the statement.

The third is the State’s proof itself. Every charge has statutory elements the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: disorderly conduct takes more than rudeness, battery and theft require intent, and an “intent to deliver” theory stitched from circumstantial inference can be pulled apart. Where the facts support it, self-defense under Wis. Stat. § 939.48 enters the case — and the threshold for getting that instruction to a jury is low.

We also defend with the aftermath in mind. A felony conviction ends firearm rights — only a governor’s pardon can restore them; convictions in categories like drug offenses, domestic violence, or crimes involving moral turpitude can complicate immigration status; and employers may act on a record that “substantially relates” to the job. Those stakes shape charge-bargaining strategy from day one.

Middleton Criminal Defense Questions We Hear Most

I got a notice from the Middleton Municipal Court on Donna Drive — is that where my criminal case will be heard?

No. The Middleton Municipal Court handles only non-criminal municipal matters, such as city ordinance violations and civil forfeitures. Any misdemeanor or felony belongs to the Dane County Circuit Court at 215 S. Hamilton St. in downtown Madison, prosecuted by the Dane County District Attorney’s Office — not the city. If you’re holding paperwork and aren’t sure which track you’re on, that’s worth a phone call before your first court date.

The police never read me my rights. Does that get my case thrown out?

By itself, usually not. Miranda applies only to custodial interrogation, and the remedy for a violation is normally suppression of the statement, not dismissal of the case. But a confession is often the spine of the State’s evidence — take it away and the case can collapse — so it’s among the first issues we examine.

How do I bail someone out of the Dane County Jail?

At the bail/release window on the ground floor of the Public Safety Building, 115 W. Doty St. in Madison — cash, money order, or cashier’s check, or a major credit card processed through a third-party vendor with a non-refundable 5% fee. Wisconsin has no bail bondsmen, and bail money is held by the court and may be applied to costs or restitution if there’s a conviction.

My partner wants the domestic abuse charge dropped. Will it be?

Not automatically — the charging decision belongs to the District Attorney, not the alleged victim, under the same framework that required the arrest once officers found the statutory criteria met. The 72-hour no-contact provision begins automatically after the arrest, can be lifted early only by the alleged victim’s signed written waiver, and violating it while it’s in force is a new crime. Work through this with counsel, not around it.

Can I get my record expunged down the road?

Only if the foundation was laid at sentencing. Wisconsin’s expungement statute, Wis. Stat. § 973.015, requires that you were under 25 at the time of the offense, that the charge carried a maximum of 6 years or less (with additional restrictions for Class H and I felonies and certain excluded offenses), that the court found expungement would benefit you without harming society — and, critically, that the judge granted expungement eligibility at the sentencing hearing itself. Even then, it takes effect only after you successfully complete the sentence — and it seals the conviction from the public court record, not from everything: the record can still appear on Department of Justice background checks, stays visible to law enforcement and certain licensing authorities, and does not restore firearm rights. Retroactive expungement is not allowed; if the moment passes, the door closes for good.

Get a Free Consultation

Se Habla Español — Call 608-305-4518

If you’re facing a criminal charge in Middleton, your lawyer is already in the neighborhood. Call 608-305-4518 or contact Mays Law Office online for a free consultation — the earliest days after an arrest are when a defense takes shape. Mays Law Office, LLC — 6405 Century Ave STE 103, Middleton, WI 53562.